1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gaming devices, and more specifically to an apparatus for randomizing the travel of a roulette ball.
2. Description of Related Art
Roulette is an extremely popular casino game in Europe, the United States and around the world. The game dates back nearly two centuries. A wheel is mounted in an assembly called a bowl. The wheel is rotatably mounted on a main spindle at the center of the bowl. The bowl comprises a circular ball track near its outer diameter in which the ball revolves around the spindle and a lower track which slopes from the ball track downwardly to the outer diameter of the wheel. In an outer annular band of the wheel is a band containing equiangularly spaced outward facing numbers. In registration with each number is a ball pocket. Each ball pocket preferably includes a pocket pad to damp motion of a ball, and the ball pockets are separated by radially disposed separators. Within the lower track are eight equiangularly spaced ballstops. These ballstops are commonly referred to as "canoes." Four of the canoes are radially disposed, and four of the canoes are tangentially disposed with respect to a circle concentric with the main spindle and substantially in the radial center of the lower track.
The gaming term for the person who operates the wheel is tourneur. It is common usage in the art to refer to the tourneur as a dealer. In operation, the dealer imparts a motion to the ball so that the ball travels in the circular track in a clockwise direction. The dealer imparts sufficient force so that the ball will travel at least three rotations before losing momentum and entering the lower track from the circular track due to the force of gravity. At approximately the same time as releasing the ball, the dealer turns the wheel in a counterclockwise direction. As the ball begins its approximately spiral motion toward the wheel, it may or may not hit a canoe. The ball reaches the wheel and lands in a pocket corresponding to a particular number.
Winners and losers and odds of payoffs are determined in accordance with the number. The modern roulette wheel contains 36 integers from 1 through 36. The "American" roulette wheel additionally has a 0 and a 00. The "French" or "European" wheel has 36 numbers and only a single zero. The zeros are typically marked on green backgrounds. The integers are each "red" or "black". In the outward facing numbers, groups of numbers and each color are spaced out in a mathematically balanced fashion. In the American wheel, the numbers 0 and 00 are directly opposite each other in the outward facing number band. The colors alternate around the wheel and odd numbers alternate with even numbers. The sum of each two successive numbers of the same color must equal 37. There are two exceptions, namely the numbers 9 and 28 and the numbers 10 and 27. These pairs are not of the same color.
Inside bets are wagers on the integers and the zeros. These can be "straight-up bets" that cover a single number, and pay 35:1, "split bets" that cover two numbers and pay 17:1, "corner bets" that cover four numbers and pay 8:1, "street bets" that cover three numbers and pay 11:1, "line bets" that cover six numbers and pay 5:1 or "top line bets" that cover five numbers and pay 6:1. Outside wagers are on red-black, odd-even and high-low that can pay even money, or bets on the "columns" or "dozens" (12 numbers each) that pay 2:1.
Despite the fact that the roulette wheel is designed to randomize results, it is well known that an experienced roulette dealer can locate or "hit" a section or group of numbers on the wheel. This is possible since dealers determine the speed of the ball and of the wheel. In the typical course of spending eight hours a day, five days a week for years in a row, dealers develop a great deal of experience and technique. Many dealers become capable of locating a specific section or even perhaps hitting a specific number. This is possible despite the presence of the canoes in the lower track.
European wheels, generally give a house advantage of 2.70%. With American wheels, all bets except the five number bets have a house advantage of 5.26%. A dealer need only be able to hit just one particular side of a wheel to alter the odds. The only safeguard which a casino has to achieve an unbiased result in the movement of the ball is to instruct the dealer not to look into the wheel upon spinning. Disadvantages accrue to the house due to lack of randomness. One disadvantage is the ability of a dealer and a confederate to cheat the house. The other is that experienced players may avoid the house's roulette wheels since they feel that the dealer has the ability to lower their odds.
It is therefore important to provide an apparatus which retains the traditional feel of play of roulette while randomizing results. Various devices have been provided to remove manual aspects of roulette dealing. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,989,873 and 4,906,005 include blowers for sending a ball through a tube to a propulsion device by which the ball is propelled to an outer track. U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,945 shows an automatic roulette ball spinner which includes a pneumatically powered plunger for propelling a ball. The plunger can have a varied striking force by the utilization of a randomly adjusted throttle for a compressor. These gaming devices do not preserve the traditional roulette game, but provide for mechanical substitutes. It would be highly desirable to provide a roulette apparatus providing for a traditional dealer-operated game while randomizing the results.